


Take off

by Ex-Genesis (orphan_account)



Category: Disney RPF
Genre: Angst, Incest, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-26
Updated: 2010-06-26
Packaged: 2017-11-12 15:50:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/492954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Ex-Genesis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joe's leaving and Nick just wants him to stay; he doesn't understand.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take off

There was something distinctly wrong with the way Nick was looking at him, as though he'd been betrayed. Joe had thought it might be like this, but he didn't actually  _expect_  it to be. He expected Nick to come across guarded, with his arms tight across his chest, and his eyes averted during all goodbyes. He had thought, that when Nick finally got his turn, he would come up to Joe, drop the resentment, and give him a tight hug that lasted just as long, if not longer than their mother's, because this was months they were talking about, not even just a week or two, but several. Then he would remember that he loved Joe, and that he didn't want this goodbye to end stupidly, that he wanted Joe to have fun and be happy. Or maybe Nick wouldn't say anything at all, and the hug would last, but when Joe tried to look him in the eyes to say goodbye, Nick would just turn away, pick Frankie up in his arms, and then go to by him candy from the nearest kiosk leaving Joe to pine after him for a moment while the rest of his family ignored Nick and his childishness.  
  
Instead, Nick's hurt eyes were focused on Joe throughout, still distant, but his arms were only loosely fit across the protrusion of his stomach, and his throat was tight, looked like it hurt from where Joe gave glances back at him. Frankie hovered by Nick's side, torn, obviously. Joe could tell he wanted to be standing by Joe, because Joe was the one who was leaving, but somehow Frankie had reasoned that Nick needed him more, and Joe could possibly see why though he still didn't think that was quite fair. Then again, Frankie usually picked Nick over him, so he wasn't sure why this time should be so different.   
  
He let it go as Kevin pulled him into a tight hug whispering for him to be safe and not do anything stupid, and for some ridiculous reason that only existed in Kevin's head, he asked Joe to make him a bird house, which only got a slightly demented look out of Joe. He shook it off and turned to his dad who pulled him into a grip Joe suspected he'd last gotten when Joe was so, so little, but big enough not to hurt. It felt good to feel the trust radiating off of his dad, to know that his father knew he could do this, could be safe. It would be difficult to admit at times, when Kevin Sr. would choose to talk to Kevin or Nick before he'd ever come to Joe about most things, but Joe really counted on what his dad thought of him. It was a desire to give his father a chance to be proud that kept him away from so many dangerous situations, not so much when he was younger, but in the past couple of years. Then it was time for mom, who had tears in her eyes, and damn it all, Joe felt himself choke up the closer she got to him with her hands moving from her cheek to his upper arms, pulling him into an unbalancing hug. She held him tight and brushed her fingers through his hair on the left side with one manicured hand while the other held him in place, more whispers of promises he needed to make to be safe and to call or write, no, both, before she'd let him set foot on that plane. He nodded his head, with an I promise, I promise, and then she finally pulled herself off of him stepping to her husbands' side who gripped her waist comfortingly.  
  
It was Frankie, then, who tugged Nick's hand down from under his other arm, tugged it to his side, and Frankie gripped his fingers before side-kicking at Nick's shoe and shooting a smile up to his older brother. The Tank walked slowly at first, too cool to miss Joe, too cool to even think that he'd wish his brother was back the next day when he wanted to shoot a Nerf gun at someone and not get a look of annoyance, but of pride. He'd miss it, and he knew it, and his pride was forgotten the second his foot fell in alignment with his mother's and then he kicked off the ground and lunged himself into Joe's arms who caught him, practiced not for hugs, but for tackles. After their giggles or rather, laughs mixed for a moment, Joe spared a look at Nick, who had let himself smile for just a moment, but when he caught Joe looking at him, he made a fist with his hand and put it over his mouth, nails hooked over his lower row of teeth.  
  
Frankie was jabbering at Joe, telling him all of the things he had to do while he was in Europe, like running with the bulls, and making sure he wasn't pick-pocketed, and maybe becoming an international jewel thief because when else would he get the opportunity. Joe nodded and smiled indulgently. Raising one hand up from the hook of Frank's knees to size up a jewel in the air with his fingers. "I'm thinking a big one, Tank. A ruby, maybe."  
  
"No, a diamond," Frankie corrected him, studying the invisible jewel with scrutinizing eyes. "And bring. It back. Shiny," he said, pointing at the air between Joe's fingers with a warning glare. Apparently he was the operator of this mission, and Joe was just the goon.  
  
"Yes sir!" Joe pronounced, happily taking what position he got in Frankie's life. When Frank finally wrapped his arms around Joe's neck in a real hug, he added, "And maybe a block of gold?" in a fake whisper.  
  
Ignoring him completely, done with whatever game he thought he was playing, Frankie whispered for real, right into Joe's ear canal, "You're kind of a jerk for leaving Nick." When Joe stiffened a little, his breath catching slightly at the serious tone, Frankie added in a rush, "Still love you." Joe pressed the side of his face to Frankie's head and closed his eyes, not wanting to let go, because he was almost afraid this was the closest he was going to get to Nick, that Frankie, their Little Man, was doing Nick's bidding for him, seeing something in Nick beforehand, and taking it upon himself, something Joe just didn't want to see. Finally Frankie wriggled a bit saying an indignant, "Put me down!" Joe let his younger brother slide to the floor, smashing across his feet a little as he turned to walk away, going straight to Kevin who just picked him up again, and Joe tried to ignore, for Frank's sake, the tear he saw resting in his little brother's eye.  
  
"Who's next?" Joe crooned, opening his arms wide and looked all around him as if there wasn't a set radius of people who gave a shit only ten feet out from him. He tried to ignore the fact his voice almost choked mid-way through the two-syllable sentence. Honestly, he didn't know why he was trying to make a joke of it, except that he wondered if he could get Nick to laugh, or at least smile, it might make his brother relent, relent all the way into his arms, and for a fleeting moment, Joe thought, his carry-on. His mother gave a soft laugh that was mostly a sob, and Kevin shook his head at him in warning. Joe could see why when he looked at Nick, and there came the averted eyes, finally. Finally Nick looked away from him, and it was at the wrong moment, at exactly the wrong moment. This was the moment Nick was finally supposed to look at him, to come to him, but he was just  _standing_  there, looking out the window at a plane like he was about to incinerate it.  
  
Slowly, Joe let his arms fall. As expected for the moment Nick was going to ignore him, the rest of the family ignored Nick. Joe's shoulders slumped, and he couldn't believe Nick was making him do this, making him walk over there to say goodbye, to try to get something, anything out of Nick in front of their family, and it was just so ridiculously embarrassing and horrifying that he could feel this anxious in front of them, cheeks flaring red. It took what felt like forever for Joe to finally be able to pick his feet up and begin crossing the distance. His fucking odyssey. Just call him Odysseus. Only he wasn't sure what he was walking to Penelope or Circe. Because really, he thought Penelope handled this part a lot better. Circe was temptation, though, and fuck if Nick was anything less than tempting. Making him want to rip up his boarding pass, or to buy another one and let Nick join him even when he knew that would be the opposite of one of the major points of the trip.  
  
Eyes narrowing purposefully out at one of the runway strips, Nick finally did cross his arms tight over his chest, jaw tightening a bit. Joe knew exactly how to make it loosen, exactly what to draw Nick back into him. Only he couldn't do it, not because he didn't want to, because that was about the only thing he wanted to do at the moment, but because even though his family were supposedly not paying attention to their space by the window, there were always eyes, and usually more than one pair. "Nick, please. Don't." His voice was just soft enough through his forced roughness that Nick was able to hear the plea underneath the command. His eyes flickered down, but not to Joe, and he was trying to decide if it would be worth it to slacken his jaw, or if that would only get him into trouble by allowing him speech. Joe sighed a little defeated, and it pained him to say what he was about to tell Nick, but he had to, didn't know what else he could do. "I know you probably think that if you don't say goodbye, I'll have to stay... But I won't, Nick. I'll still be leaving. I'll still walk onto that plane in fifteen minutes." Nick still didn't look at him, but his jaw did slacken. "I'm leaving, Nick. I'll be on that plane when it leaves; don't kid yourself."  
  
When Joe turned one of his feet, ready to give up, almost, turning away slowly, giving Nick a chance, that's when he felt more than he had the chance to see, arms wrap around his neck, across the back of his shoulders. Nick piled his arms on top of each other at the right side of Joe's head, burying his face slightly in the skin that connected his neck to his shoulder, blocked anyone's view from his face. "I don't understand this. I don't understand why you have to do this." Joe blinked, and then let his eyes fall closed as he put one hand and then the other to Nick's back, a gentle pressure.  
  
"I've tried before, to explain," he started slowly, but enunciating every word so Nick could at least hear the words he spoke. "I don't know why you don't understand, Nick. I don't think you really want to. You're not letting me have a reason for anything, and I think you know why, because then you'd be right, and I'd be wrong for leaving."  
  
"You are wrong for leaving," he muttered, barely loud enough for Joe to catch a bit of it, but knowing Nick as he did, he was able to piece the inflections together, turn them into words.  
  
Joe pressed on, choosing to ignore it. If Nick didn't want him to hear how ridiculous he was being, then Joe would pretend. "But I'm not wrong for leaving Nick. I would never leave you without a good reason, and you'll figure that out, hopefully not too soon after I get there. And I  _am_  coming back. I'm not running away. I have no intention of staying gone, Nicky, so you need to stop whatever the hell this is. You can't ruin everyone else's way, their decisions, just so that you can get yours. That isn't how it works. God help me, but I love you for trying, but it needs to stop. I'm twenty-two, Nick, and I have to know." It seemed as though he'd been talking for a long time, but it had really only taken seconds to reprimand Nick's behavior, to attempt one last time to make him see, Joe might be leaving, but he wasn't leaving _Nick_ .  
  
A breath in and finally a breath out, Nick turned his head up just a little, arms still blocking him from view, and pressed his lips surely, to the side of Joe's neck, pressing firm and not moving his lips until Joe tilted his head down, forehead landing on Nick's shoulder. With Joe closer, Nick twisted his head just a little more, and with skill and familiarity, he pressed his lips to Joe in one of the shortest kisses they'd ever shared, because it was dangerous, so dangerous where they were. It was enough though, to make Joe tear up just a little, but for a small, real smile to finally appear on Nick's face. "I love you." Joe pretended he didn't hear it, 'mmm?'ing at Nick. Nick shook his head, child-like in a different way as a blush crept into his cheeks a little, and as his arms fell from around Joe's neck, he whispered even softer, "I love you."  
  
"Oh. Oh!" Joe pronounced loudly, causing Nick to glare at him a little. "You love me, do you Nicholas?" Not only was their family turning to look at them, but others were as well, which turned Nick's ears and cheeks even more red under the attention. "Is that what you said? That you love me? Because it was a little hard to hear through all that buzzing pride! Maybe you should say it a little louder, that you love me!" By the end, Joe was shouting and Nick was not the only one glaring, but everyone family member except Frankie, who was giggling, was as well.  
  
"Joe," Nick ground out, firm and warning. However, when Joe pulled him into another quick, very necessary hug, Joe was sure to press his lips to the shell of Nick's ear, and Nick forgot what it was to be embarrassed and angry.  
  
Especially as Joe whispered, "I love you too. Every step I take will be for you, okay?" Nick nodded his head, and when Joe walked back to his place of departure, waving slightly and blowing a kiss to "no one in particular" Nick choked back whatever feeling was trying to rush out of him, stampeding through him, but he thought maybe, after all, he would be able to survive Joe being absent. He did, in fact, take Frankie to get some candy on their way out in a rather non-childish fashion, but when  they got out of the airport, Nick made them wait, and wait, and wait until they saw what he believed to be Joe's plane take off into the air.


End file.
